Do robot farms not work anymore?

So I'm on my 5th playthrough(yes I know I have a problem, the first step is admitting it). I like building robot kill traps essentially around office, labs, etc so they can't bother me and so I can have a steady supply of CPU's. However now everything despawns before I get to it and I don't remember it doing this before. The only difference on this playthrough is that I'm playing it on Xbox gamepass ultimate on my PC instead of Steam. I wanted to do all the cosmetic collecting and achievements again.. yes I know lol. Is this a thing or have I lost my mind or both?